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From the Midwest to East Asia to South America - August 2018 Recap

by
Sarah Larson
| Sep 05, 2018

Midwest Buyers Mission

The 2018 Midwest Buyers Mission took place in three Midwestern cities – Kansas City, MO; East Lansing, MI; and Chicago, IL from July 30th to August 2nd. Food Export - Midwest worked with the Agricultural State Department Members Jennifer Dudenhoeffer of the Missouri Department of Agriculture, Suzanne Numrich and Janelle Dobbins of the Kansas Department of Agriculture, Jamie Zmitko-Somers of Michigan, and Kim Hamilton of the Illinois Department of Agriculture. Food Export’s domestic contractor Sandy Renner also helped coordinate.

The buyers met with approximately 80 suppliers over the course of the three stops, and had over 1000 meetings by the time the mission was completed. The Midwest Buyers Mission is one of our premier Buyers Missions throughout the year and provides an incredible opportunity to showcase products of the Midwest region, highlighting the agricultural abundance of the area.

Kansas City

East Lansing

Chicago

Importer Seminar
Dominican Republic
August 8 – 9

Food Export sponsored a seminar on August 9, 2018 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The theme of the seminar was “Opportunities For US Value Added Agricultural Products”. Howard Gordon, Food Export – Northeast’s Branded Program Manager, spoke at the event as well as Pamela Wells-Russell, Food Export’s In-Market Representative covering the Caribbean and Central America. They presented to over 45 attendees, representing importers and trade representatives, “Resources for Importers of US Foods”. There were numerous interactive questions during the presentation which was interpreted in conjunction with the Agricultural Attache office in the Dominican Republic.

Many new contacts were made and it was an invaluable learning experience for Food Export as well as the Dominican Republic importers.

Food Export’s Focused Trade Mission to China took place from August 13-17. Food Export-Midwest’s Branded Manager Molly Burns had the opportunity to participate in the mission. It was a whirlwind of a week, with visits to three different Chinese cities in just five days! Each stop reflected a unique region of China. The first stop was Shanghai, home to the busiest port in the world and many of China’s importers of US food products. The second stop was Chengdu in China’s southwest region. Chengdu has a population of over 14 million, and its GDP matches that of Mexico. The third and final stop was Shenzhen, representing the South China region, an $8 billion market for US agricultural exports. At each stop, the mission participants met with the U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) staff, toured grocery stores, met one-on-one with Chinese buyers, and networked.

Exporting to China is no easy task right now, making this trip all the more important. Over half of the trade mission participants promoted products affected by the new Chinese tariffs on US food products. FAS addressed this topic at each trade mission stop and emphasized that it is essential to maintain relationships, trust, and credibility with our Chinese buyers and keep building new relationships during this time. China is too big and important a market to stay away and suppliers need a long term strategy. Despite current trade barriers, we came away with strong projected sales and many new buyer relationships.

Shanghai

Chengdu

Shenzhen

Seafood Outreach
Maine
August 15 – 16

On August 15th and 16th Food Export – Northeast Liaison Bulat Hametov and Seafood Program Coordinator Colleen Coyne traveled to our member state of Maine to meet with current Food Export Suppliers as well as network with new potential suppliers. Cozy Harbor of Maine and Ready Seafood Co. were two of our existing companies that they met with in an effort to stay in touch with the current needs and pulse of the seafood industry.

State visits are a vital part of our Liaison’s jobs as they allow a face to face connection to be formed with the U.S. suppliers they work with on a daily basis. As well as the opportunity to see in person the company, facility, and products and be able to understand in its entirety the direction and needs of the company from an exporting perspective.

As a result of Bulat and Colleen’s trip, we have a brand new U.S. supplier who has signed up for multiple Buyers Missions events in 2019 as well as submitting a pre-qualification for the Branded Program! In a world of virtual communication, an in person meeting can be monumental.

Food Export’s In-Market Representatives River Global arranged one-on-one meetings between the U.S. supplier participants and qualified buyers on the tradeshow floor. The suppliers were provided professional food industry interpreters for their meetings. They also received customized market research on their products before the trip.

In addition to the tradeshow, the suppliers visited a local food manufacturer in Sao Paulo and were given a presentation on the company and exporting to Brazil. The suppliers also received a market briefing by local Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) staff on the opportunities of exporting to Brazil.

The mission produced great results with over 140 new supplier/buyer introductions and 2 suppliers expecting first time sales to the market. The participants left with great anticipation of sales results and an excitement to visit the Brazilian market again soon!

Ohio Company Visits and Exporting SeminarColumbus and Cleveland, OH
August 22 – 24

This past month, one of our Food Export – Midwest liaisons, Enrique Rubio, traveled to Ohio to speak at an Exporting Seminar hosted by the Global Business Center at Cleveland State University. The seminar focused on the local and regional resources that are available to help grow exports of value-added food and agricultural products. Enrique gave a presentation highlighting the services available through Food Export.

In addition to attending the seminar Enrique had the chance to meet with a number of Ohio suppliers that currently participate in Food Export – Midwest events and services, to assist with their international marketing strategies for 2019. August is an extremely busy time of the year for Food Export as our U.S. suppliers begin to roadmap their export plans for the upcoming year, so the chance to connect one-on-one and in person with our suppliers is always a great opportunity.

Coming Up In September

Focused Trade Mission to Canada for Specialty and Natural Products – September 5-6

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Food Export–Midwest and Food Export–Northeast reserve the right to deny services to any firm or individual which, in the sole opinion of Food Export– Midwest and Food Export–Northeast, does not comply with FAS, MAP or Food Export–Midwest and Food Export–Northeast regulations or policies, or otherwise offer the best opportunity to achieve its mission of increasing food and agricultural exports. Submission of any false or misleading information may be grounds for rejection or subsequent revocation of any application or participation. Food Export–Midwest and Food Export–Northeast are equal opportunity employers and providers.